Briefings by the Chief Economist of BNP Paribas Fortis

Mr. Peter DeKeyzer, Chief Economist of BNP Paribas Fortis came to the United States to meet with political officials, think tanks, and senior corporate executives in order to exchange information, share his economic insights, and get a pulse on US perspectives relating to global economic issues. In his capacity as Advisor for Economic Diplomacy to Belgium and his role as chair of the Global Executives Council, Faleiro’s Managing Partner Christian Bartley arranged a day-and-a-half of meetings for Mr. DeKeyzer, that started on Capitol Hill and went to America’s heartland. The visit included a roundtable discussion with leaders of US multinationals from the automotive, industrial manufacturing, healthcare, financial, and service sectors. Topics discussed included the Euro-Dollar forex rates, the US and European central banks and moves they likely to make over the next few months, the pace of growth in the United States, Europe, and China, and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, among other topics.

In addition to meeting with corporate executives, Mr. DeKeyzer spent some time at Marquette University meeting with a group of undergraduate and graduate students, and professors and administrators. A guest of the College of Business Administration, the Economics Department and the Applied Investment Management Program hosted a reception for Mr. DeKeyzer following a brief presentation and Q&A session. While this was Mr. DeKeyzer’s first time on Marquette University’s campus, he is quite familiar with the university as every summer he presents to those Marquette students who participate in an exchange program with the University of Antwerp.

For more on Peter DeKeyzer’s insights, he recently published a book entitled Growth Makes You Happy: An Optimists View of Progress and the Free Market which is available at http://amzn.com/9401419841.